Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
George Robinson was born in Allegan, Michigan in 1922 and enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from high school. George went through basic training in Missouri, radio code training in Kansas City, and amphibious training in Virginia. He...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Merchant mariner; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Merchant marine--United States; Video recordings;
Frederick Robins was born in Chicago in 1926. He joined the Merchant Marines in August of 1944, and went through basic training for 6 weeks in New York City. He completed radio operator school and graduated in 1945. During his tour of duty, he...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Marine Corps; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Rex Rogers was born in Lansing, Michigan. He was drafted into the Marines and sent to San Diego, California in February of 1943. After basic training Rex continued with radio training and then was sent to Texas. Rex lived in the dormitories of...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Benjamin Taylor was born in Allegan County, Michigan in 1921 and went to school through the eighth grade. After serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps for about a year, he joined the National Guard in June 1940; the National Guard was...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; African-American soldiers; Video recordings;
Alford Walker, of Pontiac, Michigan, was drafted into the Army in 1967. Before being drafted, he remembers business greatly slowing down and much protesting and civil unrest. Al went to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for basic training, and then to New...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Naval Reserve. Women's Reserve; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Navy; Video...
Ester Warber grew up in Michigan and worked in defense plants in the Detroit area during World War II, and then enlisted in the WAVES, trained as an aircraft mechanic and served on a base in Hawaii. After the war she held a variety of jobs and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
William Vander Wall was born in Spring Lake, Michigan in 1922. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was very anxious about joining the service and was accepted into the Army on April 1, 1942. William trained with a mortar squad in Tennessee and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, French; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American; Video...
Raymonde Richardson was born in Paris, France and grew up during the depression. Food was very scarce and she would have to stand in a food line for five hours a day. She describes the German conquest of France and her experiences as a teenager...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Chet Teater was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1946 and was drafted into the Army in 1969. He served with an armored cavalry unit in Vietnam in 1970 and participated in an assortment of combat missions and security assignments. He discusses...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Randy Austin was born in Paw Paw, Michigan on December 30, 1945 and was drafted shortly after graduating high school in 1965. He was not happy about being drafted and expected to be sent to Vietnam. Instead he began training in aviation...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Matthew Brong was in1983, received some ROTC training at Michigan State University for a while, but dropped out because he was not getting good grades. He joined the Army in 2005 and was sent to Iraq in August of 2006 with the 82 Airborne...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
John Canepa was born in Massachusetts in 1930. He attended Harvard University and enlisted in the Navy near graduation and just barely missed the Korean War. He attended officer school in Rhode Island and was later assigned to work in the Naval...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
David Coryell was born on March 19, 1930 in Kansas. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard in 1947 and graduated from high school in 1948. He began going to college shortly after graduation, but was sent to Louisiana for training when the Oklahoma...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings
Morris Gooch was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1951. He enlisted in the Navy during the American war with Vietnam because he felt that it was the patriotic thing to do. While in the service, Morris worked as a torpedo man traveling to South...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army Reserve; Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American; Iraq War, 2003--Personal narratives,...
Todd Herrick was born on January 19, 1971 and joined the Army Reserve in 1989. He served in transportation and military police units, and went on active duty and served in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq during the Gulf War of 1991 and again during...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American;
Bud Masinick was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Detroit, MI during his childhood. After graduating high school, he was drafted into the Navy in 1943. He attended basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station, and attended submarine school in New...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Air Force; Other veterans & civilians--Personal narratives, American;
Todd McCrumb was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1965 and enlisted in the Air Force in 1984 shortly after graduating from high school. He had been unsure of what he wanted to do in his life, not ready for college, and unemployment in the area was at...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American;...
Greg Melonas was born in Chicago in 1920. He joined the National Guard in 1936, and was called into the Army after Pearl Harbor. He was deployed to France after D-Day, and served mostly in Czechoslovakia. He was trained as a medic in the...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Navy; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Donald Newton was born in Grand Rapids, MI and graduated from high school at age 16. When he was eligible, he joined the Navy and did basic training at Great Lakes Naval Station. He then moved to submarine training at New London, CT. He was then...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; United States. Army; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Video recordings;
Francis Poll grew up in Michigan and was drafted into the Army in August 1941. He trained as an infantryman in Texas, and his unit was sent to Northern Ireland for additional training, and went to North Africa in early 1943. He participated in...
